Molded pulp fruit tray



Jan. 12, 1960 R. F. REIFERS 2 MOLDED PULP FRUIT TRAY Filed May 27, 1958 BY mg, Loclcs ATTORNEY United States PatentO 2,920,805 MOLDED PULP FRUIT TRAY Richard F. Reifers, Westport, Conn., assignor to Diamond National Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Application May 27, 1958, Serial No. 738,236

1 Claim. (Cl. 2292.5)

The present invention relates to a molded pulp fruit tray, and more particularly to a molded pulp fruit tray for holding two rows of fruit while affording maximum visibility for the fruit held therein.

In the present day marketing of fruit and vegetables, particularly in the so-called supermarkets, great emphasis is placed upon packaging the fruit in attractive and eyeappealing fashion, so that the fruit thus packaged sells itself. In such operations, it has been found advantageous to package the fruit in a room removed from the sales floor, and to bring it onto the sales floor and place it on display. The fruit, thus packaged, is selected by the shopper, carried to the check-out counter, and placed in a paper bag for transportation to the home of the shopper.

Consideration of the above-described marketing steps will make it apparent that in addition to the attractive packaging of the fruit, it also is necessary that the package be sufiiciently strong to withstand handling as above described.

Prior art attempts to deal with the problems above discussed have not been entirely satisfactory. In general, these prior art endeavors have sufiered, from one or more of three types of deficiency. Certain of the prior art packages were constructed from chip board or cardboard, and thus were relatively weak and unable to Withstand the weight and handling to which thye were subjected, it being noted that fruits and vegetables are comparatively heavy when considered in connection with other packaged goods, such as cakes or doughnuts. Another deficiency of the prior art resides in the fact that with certain of the known constructions a tying member, such as a cord or rubber band, was necessary to hold the package together. The placing of these members was a time-consuming operation in a situation where the minimum amount of time could profitably be spent in the packaging of the fruit. Still another'deficiency of the prior art, particularly where the packaging of fruits and vegetables was concerned, was that the completed package concealed rather than revealed the articles contained therein. As this construction violated one of the cardinal principles of merchandising, such packages were not widely used.

An object of the present invention is to provide a molded pulp fruit tray having substantial strength.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a molded pulp fruit tray of such configuration that the fruit is held securely therein, and yet is substantially revealed to the potential customer.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a molded pulp fruit tray which will hold and display with maximum visibility two rows of fruit.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a molded pulp fruit tray of superior strength for holding two rows of fruit therein.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a molded pulp fruit tray having two compartments separated by a divider member and also having high end 2,920,805 Patented Jan. 12, 1960 walls to securely retain the fruit in addition to very low side walls to provide-maximum visibility for the fruit.

A still further object of the present invention is the provision of a molded pulp fruit tray having a longitudinally extending, discontinuous divider member separated from the end walls by a groove transverse of the divider member and in the plane of the bottom of the tray.

Other objects and the nature and advantage of the instant invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a tray in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference characters are used to designate like parts throughout the several views, there is shown in Fig. 1 a fruit tray generally designated 10 having two substantially identical compartments 11 and 12 which are separated by a divider member 13 extending longitudinally of the generally rectangular tray 10, divider member 13 having side walls 14 and 15 which are upwardly sloping, as may be seen in Fig. 3. Divider member 13 does not extend the full length of the tray 10, as is apparent from Fig. 1, but instead has slanting end walls 16 and 17 which extend downwardly from the ridge 18 of divider member 13 to the planar floor 19. Opposite end walls 16 and 17 of divider member 13 are the end walls 22 of the tray 10.

Each end wall 22 comprises two relatively high, generally rounded portions 23 and 24, rounded portion 23 forming part of compartment 11 and rounded portion 24 forming part of compartment 12. As may be seen from Fig. 1, the rounded portions 23 and 2.4 merge into flat nose portions 21.

It will be observed that a relatively low, upwardly curving, longitudinal wall 25 defines the exterior wall of compartment 11 and a similar low longitudinal, upwardly curving wall 26 defines the exterior wall of the compartment 12.

As seen best in Fig. 4, a rim 28 having its highest point at the end walls 22 descends downwardly and along the top of the longitudinal walls 25 and 26. Fig. 2 clearly shows that the longitudinal wall 26 (and of course the longitudinal wall 25) is of a very low height, that the ends 22 are of the greatest height and that the divider member 13 is of an intermediate height, slightly greater than the height of the longitudinal walls 25 and 26.

The rim 28, at the ends 22, merges into broad shelflike portions 29 which bridge and provide a strong link between the rounded portions 23 and 24 to prevent their distortion, and also provides a place for support of the tray; the tray may be supported either from the underneath portion of the shelf-like portion 29, or, alternatively, a person may hold the tray by placing his thumb on the upper surface of the shelf-like portion 29 and his fingers underneath the tray 10.

From Fig. 4 it may be readily seen that the floor 19 forms a part of the compartments 11 and 12, and is also the linking part of the tray between the end walls 16 and 17 of divider member 13 and the nose portions 21, respectively. It is noted that great strength is imparted to the tray due to the connecting parts of the floor 19 which extend between the compartments 11 and 12.

It may be seen that applicant has provided a readily fabricated and strong tray which will support and display fruit held therein with a maximum visibility. This tray is preferably used with a transparent wrap which may have a girdle wrap affixed thereto.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes" may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and therefore the invention is not limited to what is shown in-the drawings and described in the specificatidfibut only as indicated in the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

In a flanged, compartment'ed, molded pulp, tray for fruit or the like, of the type having bottom, bounding marginal walls and an interior partition, said tray being further characterized in that a) said partition is spaced on its sides and ends from said marginal walls,

('5) the tray portions on opposite sides of said partition communicating with each other at a level corresponding to the plane of said tray bottom which is planar,

-(c) said partition in' both vertical transverse and vertical longitudinal section, completely extending from a relatively sharp ridge to the bottom of said tray, the ridge being at a height above the major portion of said marginal walls,

(d) said partition structure, when viewed from the bottom comprising a relatively long, narrow cavity completely surrounded by walls terminating in the plane of the bottom of said tray,

(e) said marginal tray wall having minor portions which extend to a higher level than the major portions thereof and to a higher level than said interior partition,

(1) each of said marginal tray wall minor portions comprising two parts, each part having two ends with an end of each of said parts being relatively close together and the opposite ends of each of said parts being relatively far apart, these parts which are relatively close together being higher than the parts which are relatively far apart, and the tops of each of said parts being connected together at said higher level by a generally planular membrane, said planular membrane being generally parallel to said planar tray bottom.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 155,109 Shepard Sept. 6, 1949 D. 169,737 Randall Oct. 31, 1950 D. 182,620 Raymond Apr. 22, 1958 D. 185,463 Reifers June 9, 1959 2,575,192 Shepard NOV. 13, 1951 2,687,246 Randall Aug. 24, 1954 

